A lawsuit brought against the City of Charleston after Mayor Danny Jones decided to eject a group of homeless people living in "Tent City" last year in below-freezing temperatures has been settled.
Attorneys appeared in federal court in Charleston before U.S. District Judge John Copenhaver Friday to settle the case.
The settlement created a $20,000 fund for people who claimed they lost property when the encampment on the bank of the Elk River was dismantled.
Each claimant will receive a $1,200 voucher from local businesses, including Piggly Wiggly, which is just feet away from the former site of Tent City.
City Attorney Paul Ellis said 12 claimants already have received vouchers from the city. He said the city is willing to work with any other claimants who can prove they lost property during the dismantling of the encampment.
Ellis said the decision to settle was made mainly to save taxpayer money. Ellis said if brought to trial, court costs for the city would have ranged between $50,000 and $100,000.
"We would have got this case dismissed on summary judgment," Ellis said.
Mountain State Justice, a nonprofit legal aid group based in Charleston, represented the group.
In a statement, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, Sam Petsonk, said policies enacted after Tent City's dismantling, from the city hiring two outreach workers from Prestera to a new policy for dismantling homeless camps, are for the better.
"Obviously, the City believes what they did was right, and our clients believe it was wrong. But, we set aside those differences and came together to collaborate on a new and better system for supporting our homeless community," Petsonk said in a statement.
In January 2016, Jones ordered police to remove the encampment of homeless and transient people living at the camp known as Tent City - a group of about 20 tents which sat along the bank of the Elk River near the Spring Street Bridge. Waste Management owned the land Tent City was laid on, but the encampment had been there for several years.
Jones ordered police to remove the encampment after the mayor's office received several complaints from property owners near the camp.
Two people who lived at Tent City, Terry Cutright and John Wilson, filed a lawsuit against the city and Jones, alleging the city violated their right to due process and their right to be secure from unreasonable searches.
The city now is working with local homeless service providers on several initiatives including the possibility of creating outdoor storage lockers for people who are homeless.
Ellis said these initiatives, which he declined to elaborate on because they are still being negotiated, will be rolled out within the next few weeks.
Reach Ali Schmitz at ali.schmitz@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4843 or follow @SchmitzMedia on Twitter.